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Malabar Chicken Dum Biryani

 

 

 

First of all let me thank Suja chechi, my cousin for sharing this recipe with me.

Let us directly move to the recipe now :)

 

Ingredients 

For rice

1. Kyma/Katori rice - 2.5 cups
2. Oil/ghee - 2 tbs
3. Cinnamon stick - small
4. Cardamon - 3
5. Star anise - 1
6. Cloves - 4
7. Bay leaf - 1
8. Salt to taste

For paste

1. Green chilli - 2
2. Garlic cloves - 4
3. Ginger - 1 inch piece
4. Yogurt - 1 tbs
5. Fennel seeds( perunjeerakam) - 1.5 tsp
6. Cumin seeds( jeerakam) - 1/2 tsp
7. Black pepper - 6
8. Cloves - 4
9. Cardamon - 1
10. Cinnamon -  small piece
11. Turmeric - 1/4 tsp

For chicken

1. Chicken pieces  - 1/2 kg
2. Onion sliced - 2 medium
3. Tomato cut - 2 medium
4. Salt to taste
5. Coriander leaves chopped - 2 tbs
6. Mint leaves chopped - 1 tbs
7. Lime juice - 1 lime

For garnish

1. Onion thin slices - 1/2 onion
2. Cashewnut split - 10-12
3. Raisins - 8-10
4. Coriander leaves chopped - 2 tbs
5. Ghee/ clarified butter - 2 tbs
6. Milk - 1/2 cup
7. Saffron - a pinch
8. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Preparation

For chicken masala:

1. Make a paste using the ingredients from "For paste" list 
2. Clean chicken pieces and marinate using the above paste, salt and mix with onion slices and tomato
3. In a heavy bottomed vessel, add the chicken mixture and a cup of water to cook chicken well
4. When chicken is almost cooked add coriander leaves/minleaves and lime juice
5. Once chicken is cooked well and gravy is thick, switch off the flame for chicken. 

 

For Rice

1. Wash and clean rice
2. In pressure cooker or any other pot, heat ghee mentioned under "For rice"
3. Add everything except rice from "For rice" ingredients and stir.
4. Add rice and stir for a minute more and add 5 cups of water and salt to taste
5. Cook rice well.( If in pressure cooker 5 minutes in medium flame should be enough. Open the cooker only after full pressure is gone)
6. Once rice is cooked, fluff it using a fork so that the rice doesn't stick to each other

 

For garnish

 

1. Heat ghee in a pan
2. Add onion and fry till it is crisp and take it from ghee and keep it aside
3. Fry cashews to golden brown and raisins till they bulge  in ghee and keep aside. 
4. Mix turmeric and saffron in hot milk

 

Layering

1. Take an oven safe dish (if using oven) or a heavy bottom vessel with tight lid
2. Layer half of the chicken masala in it. 
3. Top with half of the cooked rice
4. Now add half of the fried garnish mix
5. Again layer the remaining chicken, rice and fried garnish 
6. Top with coriander leaves
7. And pour the turmeric saffron milk on the top
8. Close the lid and bake for 20 min
9. If not baking, heat a heavy metal griddle and keep biryani vessel with lid on , on top of the griddle for 20 minutes. 

 

The order I followed for the above is

1. Marinate chicken
2. Cook rice
3. While rice is cooking fry garnish items
4. Fluff the rice
5. Cook chicken
6. Make turmeric saffron milk 
7. Layer and bake

Malabar chicken dum biryani is ready to be served with salad, pickle and pappadam and sulaimani at the end :)

Easy bread pudding with jam

Ingredients:

1. Milk - 1.5 cups
2. Egg - 3
3. Vanilla extract - 1tsp
4. Sugar - 3/4 cups
5. White bread - 4 slices
6. Strawberry jam(any flavoured jam) - 2 tbs
7. Brown sugar(optional) - 1-2 tbs
8. Cinnamon powder(optional) - 1tsp

Directions

1. Mix ingredients from 1 to 4 well
2. Sandwich bread slices with jam in between them
3. Cut the bread jam sandwich into small square pieces 
4. Arrange the bread pieces in a baking bowl
5. Pour over the milk mixture and let it soak for 1hr.
6. Mix brown sugar with cinnamon powder and sprinkle over the pudding mixture(optional)
7. Keep the bowl in a baking tray with a glass of water poured in the tray
8. Bake it in a preheated over at 175 Degree Celsius, for 20-25 min, until custard is set.
9. After cooling, keep the closed pudding bowl in fridge and enjoy it.

Note:
Bread pudding tasted better after keeping it in fridge for a whole day.
You can cut off the sides of bread before spreading the jam if you don't like it. I didn't remove it.

Kerala style pattani kuruma/ Green peas kuruma

Green peas kuruma goes very well with appam or roti. The fresh coconut paste with kuruma masala gives thick gravy for this dish.

Ingredients:

1. Coconut  shredded - 5 tbs 
2. Dried green peas - 1.5 cups
3. Oil - 1 tbs
4. Mustard - 1/2 tsp
5. Curry leaves - few
6. Salt to taste
7. Kuruma masala - 1 recipe

Directions

1. Soak dried green peas overnight
2. Cook green peas in pressure cooker
3. Heat 1 tbs oil in a pan
4. Splutter the mustard seeds and curry leaves in the oil
5. Make a paste of shredded coconut
6. Add Kuruma masala and coconut paste to the oil
7. Mix well and cook
8. When oil seperates, add cooked green peas
9. Add salt and enough water to reach the consistency you want
10. Cook for 5 more minutes and take off from the flame. 

Green peas kuruma is ready to be served. 

Kuruma masala

Ingredients

1. Onion sliced - 1.5  medium sized
2. Tomato chopped - 1medium sized
3. Oil - 1 tbs
4. Garlic chopped - 1 tbs
5. Ginger chopped - 1 tbs
6. Fennel seeds ( perunjeerakam)- 1 tsp
7. Green chilli - 1
8. Coriander powder - 1 tbs
9. Chilli powder - 1 tsp
10. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
11. Garam masala - 1/2 tsp

Directions

1. Heat the oil and add fennel seeds
2. Add green chilli, ginger and garlic and sauté for 2 minutes in medium flame and make sure it doesn't burn
3. Add onion slices and sauté till golden brown
4. Add tomato and ingredients from 8 to 11
5. Close the lid and cook till tomatoes are well cooked
6. Put off the flame and make a paste of the mixture 

Kuruma masala is ready.. You can store the masala in fridge for future use.
Get Green peas kuruma Recipe

Hummus

Hummus is a protien packed bread spread or pita dip which is very easy to make at home. I have made 2 batches of hummus at home already, it turned out to be a huge success too. Most of the recipes I saw online called for raw garlic in hummus. But I thought it might be overwhelming for me to have raw garlic taste in hummus so I chose to use the garlic in brine instead. Also I had few bottles of unused garlic in brine bottles at home. :)
Hummus goes very well with toasted brown bread with a dash of nandos sauce or normal ketchup. Here goes my recipe for hummus.

Ingredients:

1. Chana/chickpeas cooked - 1 cup
2. Olive oil - 3tbs
3. Garlic in brine- 8 cloves
4. Tahini paste- 1tbs

Directions:

1. In a blender, make a paste of the above. If the mixture is too thick be generous to add more olive oil. 

*store hummus in an airtight container with olive oil as top layer for hummus. 

*for my third batch of hummus, I tried with roasted garlic(8 cloves), but it turned out to be too garlicky. So I suggest to use lesser amount of garlic if you are using roasted garlic or raw garlic. Also add salt to hummus if raw or roasted garlic is used

Monkey bread with gooey cinnamon caramel

This is a mouth watering dish for anyone with sweet tooth.

Ingredients:

For bread

1. All purpose flour - 3-4cups
2. Sugar - 3 tbs
3. Instant dry yeast - 2.5tsp
4. Warm water - 1/4 cup
5. Warm milk - 3/4 cup
6. Butter melted - 2 tbs
7. Egg - 2
8. Vanilla extract - 1tsp
9. Salt to taste

For coating

1. Brown sugar - 3 cups
2. butter melted - 1/2 cup
3. cinnamon powder - 1-2tsp

Directions:

1. Mix yeast in warm water and keep for 5 minutes or until it bubbles on top.
2. Add 3 cups flour, sugar, butter. egg, milk, vanilla extract and salt and mix well
3. *Knead it well for 5 minutes and keep it closed for 30-45 min
4. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon powder in  a bowl and keep aside.
5. Dough will rise in this waiting time
6. Roll the dough and make small balls(lime size) out of it.
7. Butter any 9inch or 10 inch baking tin
8. Dip each ball in melted butter and  then in sugar cinnamon mixture and arrange on the pan.
9. Wait for 1-2 hrs for the balls to rise again
10. After 2 hrs, bake it in oven at 175 Deg Celsius for 25-30 minutes
11. When  baking is halfway through, you may pour the remaining butter and sugar mixture on top.
12. After 25-30 min of baking bread should be well cooked. It will spring back when pressed.
13. Takeout of the oven and keep it for cooling
14. Once cooled, turn upside down so as to get gooey caramel on top

* During kneading, if you need more flour pls add it.
You may top the bread with sugar glaze or more caramel sauce or salted caramel sauce.. :)

Old school muffin

What is a real muffin? A real muffin should be coarser and less sweet than a cake. Most of us often fail to see the actual difference between muffin and cupcake. The difference is not just in size. Cupcakes are softer, sweeter and moist than cupcake. After all, cup cakes are dessert. But muffin can be sweet or savoury, breakfast or snack..
The recipe given here is the basic old school muffin recipe. You can add your extra add ins like chocolate chips or dried fruits to it.
The above information and recipe is adapted from Alton Browns book, I'm Just Here For MORE FOOD, though I have made minor modifications to recipe.



Ingredients:

I made some cake pops using the same batter by using cake pop silicone pan

1. All purpose flour - 2 cups
2. baking powder - 2 tsp
3. Baking soda - 1 tsp
4. Salt - a pinch
5. Sugar - 1/2 cup
6. Oil - 1/2 cup
7. Egg -  2
8. Yogurt - 1 cup
9. Chocolate chips(optional) - upto 1 cup

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 175 Degree Celcius for a minimum of 10 min
2. Sift together ingredients from 1 to 4
3. Whisk ingredients from 5 to 8
4. Add wet ingredients mix to dry ingredients and just mix them using a whisk until they just come together.
5. Add in ingredient 9 and give a stir.
6. Make sure not to overmix.
7. Spoon the batter to muffin cups and bake in middle rack for about 18-20 min until tooth pick inserted to the muffin comes out clean
8. Remove the muffins from the oven and take out the muffin from pan immediately to wire rack for cooling.

Interesting Info:
It is possible to store the batter in airtight container in chill tray for up to a week. :)

Wheat Porotta

Porotta is one of my all time favourite dish...especially those porottas which Achan(Dad) used to bring home when he comes back from office. Those were such wonderful days when I go home once a month from college hostel for 2 days stay at home. During those 2days, we used to go to beach at least once , have a biryani from the famous Sagar hotel or topform hotel... otherwise have porotta and chicken curry :) :) All that was many years ago..
Coming back to "Wheat Porotta"... Does the "wheat" porotta sounds healthy to you?? Think again :) It is a healthier version than the normal maida/flour porotta, but it still has a culprit in it. And this time is not maida but oil...

Ingredients:
1. Aatta/Wheat flour - 4cups
2. Banana - 1 small or 1/2 big
3. Salt to taste
4. Oil - 1 to 2 tsp per porotta

Directions:

1. Mix salt with wheat flour
2. Add banana, mash and mix well with flour
3. Knead the above mixture adding water as per need.
4. Knead well until dough is soft and feels like elastic.
5. Wrap the dough in cling wrap and keep for 30 minutes.
6. Divide dough in to balls ( ball size can be approximately golf ball size)
7. Roll it into very thin rounds like chapathi, but thinner than chapathi.
8. Spread  1-1.5tsp of oil on one side of chapathi.
9. Fold it as shown in the picture and roll it.
10. Flatten the roll using your fingers
11. Heat a tawa and cook porotta in medium flame for 2-3 minutes on each side or until porotta is cooked.

Wheat porotta is ready to be served.Serve porotta with chicken curry or any other spicy curries.. :)

Avocado Cherry Bliss

A yummy healthy breakfast smoothie :)

Ingredients:

1. Fresh cherry deseeded -10
2. Greek yogurt - 1 cup
3. Avocado cut - 1
4. Cocoa powder - 1 tsp
5. Low fat milk - 1/2 cup
6. Sugar to taste(optional)

Directions:

1. Blend all the ingredients with ice cubes and enjoy!

Garlic chilli pasta/aglio olio pasta

We had been to Bintan for a break in the first week of this year, 2015. Bintan is a small island in Indonesia which is less than an hour ferry from Singapore. Even though the white sand beach, swimming pool and resort was superb, the food in our resort was not so remarkable except the food we had from an Italian restaurant there.  Garlic chilli pasta is what we had from there for our first day dinner and the next day dinner too :). And now it  has become one of my favourite dish. It is spicy and it is garlicky and it can be made in less than 10 minutes. So there is no excuse for not making this super easy dish on any day at home. Here goes the recipe.

Ingredients:

1. Pasta - 100gm
2. Olive oil - 4 tbs
3. Garlic chopped - 4 big cloves
4. Dried red chilli flakes - 2 tbs
5. Cherry tomatoes(cut into half) - 6-10
6. Coriander leaves finely chopped - 2 tbs
7. Salt to taste

Directions:
 

1. Start cooking pasta as per the instructions given on the package with salt. Stir in between so that pasta doesn't stick to each other
2. When one minute is left for pasta to complete cooking, Heat olive oil in a pan and sauté garlic and chilli flakes in low flame. ( must be very careful not burn garlic or chilli) around 2 min. 
3. Once garlic is sautéed enough, add 1 tbs coriander leaves.
4. When pasta is fully cooked, strain it from water and run cold water on it 
5. Keep 2 cups of water used for cooking pasta for future use. 
6. Add pasta to sautéed garlic and chilli and make sure that pasta is coated with olive oil mixture
7. Add 1 cup of pasta water to pasta and simmer for a minute more. 
8. Add rest of coriander leaves and cherry tomatoes and switch off the flame. 

Serve the pasta while hot!

*if you think pasta needs more water you are free to add the 2 nd cup of pasta water before the last step

Dahi aloo gobhi masala / potato cauliflower masala with yogurt

This is a recipe which was put together 2 days back in an evening for next days lunch. My usual curry to go with chapathi has onion in it.  But I couldn't find any good onion on that day, so was forced to come up with a new recipe with 3-4 shallots I had in my kitchen along with other veggies. After tasting the curry my mom commented that it tastes very nice. So I thought I should add the recipe in my blog.

Here goes the recipe. 

Ingredients:

1. Cauliflower florets - 2 cups
2. Potato cubes - 2 cups
3. Shallots, sliced - 4 medium size
4. Green chilli - 1
5. Ginger chopped - 1 tbs
6. Garlic chopped - 1 tbs
7. Coriander powder - 2 tsp
8. Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
9. Chaat masala - 1 tsp
10. Mustard - 1 tsp
11. Oil - 2 tbs
12. Creamy yogurt - 3tbs (I used Greek style yogurt which is packed with protein and is very creamy and thick)
13. Curry leaves - few
14. Salt - to taste

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a pan and splitter mustard and curry leaves in it
2. Add ingredients from 3 to 6 and sauté for 2-3 minutes until the raw smell is gone
3. Add potato and washed cauliflower and sauté for 2-3 minutes more
4. Add ingredients from 7 to 9 and sauté again
5. Sprinkle some water and close the lid to cook the vegetables. 
6. Once the vegetables are almost cooked, Reduce the flame to minimum, then add the creamy yogurt and mix well
7. Cook for 5 more minutes and switch off the flame. 

The curry is ready to be served.  It goes well with rotis and rice. 

Tahini

Tahini paste is basically sesame seed paste in olive oil. It is used to make hummus and in other Middle Eastern dishes. It tastes like sesame oil.

Ingredients:

1. Roasted white sesame seeds - 1 cup
2. Olive oil - 1/4 cup

Directions:

1. Make a paste of roasted sesame seed and olive oil*.

*Add more olive oil if needed for grinding.

Banana Dates Overnight rolled oats

It is time to bid goodbye to instant oats. Introduce the healthier choice of rolled oats or steel cut oats.

Overnight rolled oats breakfast is a time saver for anyone busy or lazy to make breakfast in the morning. And yes, it is a much more healthier choice than your usual breakfast items. 

 

Below is my today's breakfast recipe. 

Ingredients:

1. Rolled oats - 1 cup
2. Low fat milk - 1 cup
3. Greek yogurt - 3 tbs
4. Dates chopped - 3
5. Sugar - 1 tsp optional
6. Banana sliced - 1 small or 1/2 big
7. Salted caramel - 1 tsp

Direction:

1. Mix all ingredients from 1 to 5 in a mason jar and store it in the fridge overnight.
2. Top with sliced banana and salted caramel. 

White chocolate butterscotch roll at Awfully Chocolate

Last time when we went to star vista mall at buona vista for a date lunch, after the heavy lunch at Nandos, we went to "awfully chocolate" to have a sweet ending for our lunch. Awfully chocolate is a small eatery where they provide chocolates in different forms. We bought white chocolate butterscotch roll. It has dark chocolate cake roll with white chocolate cream topped with sweet salty butterscotch sauce.
Pros: yummy yummy yummy
Cons: high price, butterscotch sauce was a bit too salty for my taste.
Website:http://www.awfullychocolate.com

Onion tomato Raitha

Most of the restaurants provide this raitha or salad with biryani. For me this salad is a prerequisite for any biryani.. It is so easy to make and goes very well with biryani or pulav.
Here in Singapore, there are many non Indian colleagues who likes to have biryani, thandoori chicken and other Indian food but they were all surprised to hear that Indians eat yogurt with rice. For most of them yogurt is something which is supposed to be flavoured, like strawberry yogurt or mango yogurt.
Anyways according to my Phillipeno friend the yogurt salad helps to balance out the spicy biryani.

Ingredients

1. Onion sliced
2. Tomato chopped
3. Green chilli sliced
4. Salt
5. Yogurt beaten

Direction
Mix all the ingredients and raitha is ready :)

Chicken Dum Biryani

Be it a special occasion or a normal Sunday lunch, this chicken Dum Biryani can make your day special.. Here at home we usually make chicken biryani on Sunday. But the one we make is Malabar chicken biryani. The below recipe for chicken dum biryani is different from that.

Ingredients:
For Rice

1. Kyma/ jeera/basmati rice - 2cups
2. Cinnamon stick -1inch piece
3. Cloves - 5
4. Star anise -1
5. Cardamon - 3
6. Ghee -1tbs
7. Salt to taste

For Chicken

1. Cut chicken - 1/2kg
2. Chopped ginger - 1tbs
3. Chopped garlic - 1tbs
4. Green chilli - 1
5. Turmeric powder - 1tsp
6. Chilli powder - 1tbs
7. Pepper powder -1/2tsp
8. Biryani masala - 1tbs
9. Mint leaves chopped - 2tbs
10. Coriander leaves chopped - 1cup
11. Yogurt - 2tbs
12. Tomato sliced - 3medium
13. Onion sliced - 1
14. Oil - 2tbs
15. Salt to taste

Direction

1. Soak washed rice in water for 20min and drain it
2. Boil 3.5 cups of water, add ingredients under "For Rice" from 2 to 5.
3. Add drained rice, salt and ghee and cook with closed lid until rice 95 % cooked. There wouldn't be any left out water to drain from rice at this point.
4. Using a fork fluff up the rice so that it doesn't stick to each other
5. Clean the cut chicken and marinate using ingredients under "For Chicken" from 2 to 11 for 30 minute.
6. heat the oil in a bottom thick pan and sauté onion.
7. Once onion is golden brown, add tomatoes and marinated chicken and cook in high flame  with closed lid.
8. After 10 minutes reduce the flame to low-medium, and add the rice on top of chicken masala
9. Close the lid and cook for 15 more minutes and switch off the stove.
10. Open the lid only after 30minutes to fill your house with aromas of the spicy Dum Biryani!

Kadai vegetable

Kadai vegetable/chicken/paneer is one of our favourite restaurant dish. This semi gravy dish tastes great with rotis or pulav rice.
This recipe yields you restaurant style kadai vegetable curry. Use the same recipe for kadai chicken or kadai panner by replacing vegetables with chicken or paneer. I will soon give you a new post on how to make paneer at home :)

Ingredients:

1. Onion chopped - 1 medium size
2. Mixed vegetable cut into cubes - 2.5 cups ( I used cauliflower, carrots, beans, fried paneer and green peas)
3. Capsicum cut into cubes - 1
4. Coriander seeds, coarse grinded - 1 tsp
5. Fennel powder - 1/2 tsp
6. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
7. Chilli powder - 1 tsp
8. Kasuri methi - 1 tsp
9. Oil - 1 tbs
10. Salt - to taste
11. Coriander leaves chopped - 2 tbs
12. Kadai gravy masala - 1 recipe

Direction:

1. Sauté chopped onion till golden brown using the oil in a hot Kadai.
2. Add Kadai gravy masala recipe and saute for 5 more minutes
3. Add  ingredients from 4 to 7 and saute for 2 more minutes
4. Add salt, vegetables, capsicum and saute for 3 more minutes
5. Add 1/2 a cup of water, Close the lid and cook until the vegetables are almost cooked
6. Add crushed Kasuri methi leaves and cook for few more minutes until the gravy is thick enough.
7. Add coriander leaves and take off from the flame.

Try this recipe and do let me know how it comes out for you.

Kadai Gravy Masala

Below recipe gives you an easy way to make  kadai gravy masala which you can store in fridge for future use to make any kadai masala dish like kadai paneer, kadai vegetable or kadai chicken. Make it during the weekend and prepare yummy kadai dishes during weekdays in less than 30 minutes..  :)

Ingredients:

1. Dried red chilli, deseeded - 8nos
2. Coriander seeds - 1tbs
3. Chopped garlic - 2tbs
4. Green chilli - 2nos
5. Kasuri methi leaves - 1tbs
6. Garam masala - 1tsp
7. Chopped ripe tomato - 3cups
8. Vegetable oil - 2tbs

Directions:

1. Dry roast red chilli and coriander seeds in a pan for 30 seconds to 1 min and powder it in a blender
2. Heat vegetable oil in a pan. Once hot, sauté garlic in it for 30 seconds. Add green chillies and sauté for another 30 seconds in low-medium flame.
3. Add chilli-coriander powder and sauté for another 30 seconds
4. Add chopped tomatoes, stir and close the pan for 10 minutes or till tomatoes are cooked and can be mashed.
5. Rub dry methi leaves between your palm and add to tomato mix.
6. Add garam masala and cook for 1 minute more and take off the pan from stove.
7. Once masala is cool, you can store it in a closed lid container in fridge for future use.

Here you go with the Kadai vegetable recipe